Novation Awards Group Purchasing Agreement to NextGxDx for the Members of Children's Hospital Association

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Novation, the nation's largest healthcare services organization, has awarded a group purchasing contract to Franklin, Tennessee-based NextGxDx, Inc. Under the agreement, Children's Hospital Association (CHA) members who participate with Novation will have access to NextGxDx's GeneConnect™ genetic testing utilization management solution, as well as the resources available through NextGxDx's collaboration with the Seattle Children's Hospital PLUGS® (Pediatric Laboratory Utilization Guidance Services) program. Novation is the only healthcare group purchasing organization that has an agreement with NextGxDx.

GeneConnect provides hospitals and healthcare providers with administrative tools that streamline the genetic test ordering process to help improve patient care and reduce costs, including the ability to establish preferred or restricted reference laboratory relationships, track electronic orders and results, monitor physician and department test utilization, and easily compare testing options. The solution leverages NextGxDx's industry-leading database of more than 40,000 genetic tests from more than 300 U.S.-based, CLIA-certified laboratories. With the ability to discover, index and curate test information from across the web, NextGxDx addresses the central challenges associated with genetic test ordering within electronic health records: the lack of common taxonomy and terminology, and the rapid growth in the number of genetic tests available.

In addition to GeneConnect, the Novation agreement includes NextGxDx's collaboration with the Seattle Children's Hospital's PLUGS program, which helps clinical laboratories and hospitals improve the value of laboratory tests by reducing costs and errors associated with unnecessary testing. PLUGS members are provided a customized strategic plan on how to develop and sustain an internal utilization management program, as well as access to practical tools, expert advice and to the valuable PLUGS peer network.

"The growth in the cost and complexity of genetic testing is overwhelming children's hospitals and their ability to manage genetic test ordering," said Michael Astion, M.D., Ph.D., medical director in the Department of Laboratories at Seattle Children's Hospital. "CHA members served by Novation will benefit from an integrated PLUGS/GeneConnect solution that provides comprehensive clinical and technical utilization management assessments along with the support tools essential to implementing cost-savings recommendations."

"NextGxDx is proud to partner with several CHA member hospitals already, and we look forward to working with the remaining CHA hospitals served by Novation to implement the joint PLUGS/GeneConnect UM solution," said NextGxDx CEO Mark Harris, Ph.D., M.B.A. "GeneConnect customers have seen annual savings opportunities of 20 percent to 25 percent, and with the incorporation of the PLUGS program, we see the opportunity for even greater cost savings." 

About NextGxDx, Inc.
NextGxDx is a healthcare IT company dedicated to improving the cost and clinical integration of genetic testing for the medical community. GeneConnect™, NextGxDx's genetic testing utilization management software, offers sendout laboratories and healthcare providers the ability to access up-to-date listings of all genetic tests from CLIA-certified laboratories, view pertinent information about each test, order tests online, and manage results electronically within the HIPAA-compliant portal. In addition the product includes tools for order and vendor management, ordering behavior tracking by department and provider, spending analysis and robust reporting, As the genetic testing resource, NextGxDx provides comprehensive, intuitive solutions that address the specific challenges faced by each segment of the industry. 

For more information about GeneConnect, visit https://www.nextgxdx.com/.

About The Children's Hospital Association
The Children's Hospital Association (CHA) is the national voice of more than 200 children's hospitals, advancing child health through innovation in the quality, cost and delivery of care. Visit childrenshospitals.org to learn more.

Media Contact:
Erin George
615-946-9914
[email protected]

SOURCE NextGxDx, Inc.

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